TOO MUCH KEEPS GOING WRONG

[hlstarmie]

I have only had my horse 6 months and have lost count of the things that he has had.
I got him in a poor state and have tried so hard to build him up with good food and care and yet he has always had something wrong.
First he lice that he had when i bought him, due to this he had rubbed himself so much that he cut his side quite bad. I had the vet out to treat him and he got a bit better.
The next problem was that when the vet came again to do my horses teeth and worming program he discovered that my horse had a open heart valve. Although this was not serious it gave me great concern at first.
Then i noticed that my horse would occasionaly have exagerated hind leg action when being walked, so i had a chiropractor out and the vet it turned out that he had stringhalt!! Thinking nothing else could go wrong i have cared for him and loved him and he is so happy but he gets rainscald as well and i cant get rid of it.
I feel that i cant win, i cant make him better. He is alot healthier and happier than when i got him but how do i deal with all these problems? I worry so much he dosnt deserve all this.

[LadyLimerik]

I dont really have answers as to how to help your horse. But i just wanted to say that evven though it may seem kind of hopeless I'm sure you'll get there some day. Hopefully it is just all the bad things happening at once and your horse will be fine afterwards. I'm sure with time and patience you'll both get through it fine.


~Sara

[judyl]

I'm afraid that's owning a horse for you! For the first six years of owning my horse I never had a full year's riding on her - she always had something or other wrong (accident wise) which meant she had to have most of the summer off. Then we went through a period of having full year's health and now for the last three/four years we're back to the same routine again. Usually she's not off work for as long as when she was younger, but still. I agree it is very upsetting and you seem to stagger from one mountain on to the next.

I rode my horse for 20 minutes walk for the first time yesterday after her being off work now since October last year. After having the strongest back anyone had ever known all her life, she now suffers from a bad back from time to time. Everything is great, then I feel her back stiffening and call out the physio. She treats her back and then it's all ok again for another few months and then the same thing happens again. The Vet cannot say why this is or whether it's something that happened 5 years ago or 2 months ago. I just have to cope and accept the situation.

I love my horse very much and have owned her now for almost 13 years but, when she goes to horsey heaven in the sky, I think I shall take up golf as I really don't think I'm cut out for horse ownership - I just worry far too much and I can feel myself getting more neurotic every day!

Good luck!

Judy

[Spydgal]

Hiya ... yep the course of having horses never seems to run smoothly! I'd get some benzyl benzoate for the rainscald ... should sort it in no time.

[ally]

Hi Im a new member, I could'nt help but feel for you when i read your message. It reminded me of my younger days when I had to contend with the vet bills { ooh so many } the sleepless nights { ooh so many } the worry, the expense,the farrier bills , as it was allways a few days before an important event that cost so much that my darling horse must have been up best part of the night removing her shoes and impailing her foot on them, yes they were very secure when I left her that night. { i told the farrier } Then came the accidents falling off so many times x country I thought of strapping a small but practicle trials bike to my back as I was allways deposited miles from anywhere. The breaking of bones and almost spirit. But never ever my patience. { got close a couple of times mind }. Any way I thought this might give you a bit of a laugh. Im still into our four legged friends , I just stay on the ground now and show in hand. I still get all the problems except the falling off kind. You just get better at dealing with them thats all. Im sure it will all be fine. Its not that you have a problem horse, its just that some owners notice the little things , before they get bigger, and thats when some people notice them. Take care